• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Who was your first cricketing icon?

Jungle Jumbo

Jungle Jumbo

International Vice-Captain
Chanderpaul. He was batting for the West Indies against Pakistan one afternoon in the '99 World Cup. I only watched a few overs and TBH it's the name I remembered, so much so that (I was only 8 at the time) when the West Indies played a few days later against New Zealand I was desperate for the likes of Campbell, Jacobs (was opening IIRC), Lara and Williams to get out, just so that Chanderpaul could come in. From then on it was his scores I checked on teletext... still one of my favourites, but for different reasons now.
 
roseboy64

roseboy64

Cricket Web Content Updater
Would have to say it's Chris Gayle. First player I had an interest in was Jimmy Adams though. He didn't play on much longer when I started liking cricket. Then there was Courtney Walsh because he'd taken 500 wickets. Gayle next, primarily because of his hitting and he could bowl as well. But Lara eventually forced his way into the reckoning and trumped Gayle until he retired. Now i don't really have an icon though I'd class Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Glenn McGrath(accuaracy), Shane Warne(general awesomeness), Tendulkar and Kallis as faves.
 
S.P. Fleming

S.P. Fleming

U19 Cricketer
Nathan Astle for me. I just wanted to bat like him and play the cut shot like him I also thought he was an underrated dibbly dobbler. I also have fond memories of the early shane Bond, in the 2002 VB series and the 2003 wc he was just a total gun.
 
ImpatientLime

ImpatientLime

International Regular
darren gough - skillful, lion hearted, one of the few to stand up to the aussies at the time. one of the few to give england fans hope during the 90s. quality in the sub continent, severely underrated.

nasser hussain - a firebrand, set the platform for vaughan to go on and achieve greatness with his group.

michael vaughan - have seen laxman, mark waugh, martyn and gower live, still never seen anything as graceful as him in full flow. would pay money to watch him above anyone else in the history of the game. repeatedly pulling gillespie and mcgrath off a good length for six on those big aussie grounds, ridiculous. alright captain as well i suppose.

those are my heroes, coinciding with my younger fanboyish days. don't really feel the same connect now i'm slightly older.
 
Last edited:
Red

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
Mark Waugh for me. Just always loved and tried to emulate his effortless style with the bat as a kid.
 
ankitj

ankitj

Hall of Fame Member
Tendulkar. Easy choice considering my earliest memory of watching cricket is of 1987 world cup and Tendulkar debuted just a couple of years later. The exhibition match in Pakistan where he hit 5 sixes off Qadir made him my hero instantly. He played a very different brand of cricket than what Indians were used to expecting from their team. He was the Sehwag of those days.
 
Last edited:
weldone

weldone

Hall of Fame Member
I was too young then. I watched cricket with my father, but I was too young to even comprehend the rules. I thought singles have something to do with the inner circle. :p

As far as I can remember the sheer beauty of those glorious square cuts had me for the first time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aj6EINaDXc
 
cnerd123

cnerd123

likes this
One of my earliest cricket memories was Saurav Ganguly running back to take a diving catch in some ODI against South Africa...I think it was the Champions Trophy? As I remember it, the catch changed the match for us, my dad, uncles and cousins all around watching it erupted in cheer and were loving every minute of it.

Then came Shane Warne, who made me want to become a spin bowler.
 
Daemon

Daemon

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Don't think I had a proper one since I picked up the sport a couple of years before I started watching cricket. Never really looked up to any international cricketer (did look up to plenty of teammates and seniors) or tried to emulate them in that sense but if you ask me now I'll probably say I'm most inspired by Steve Smith.

Usually if you don't show massive improvements at the age group levels which kinda happened to me, you get the feeling that you'll never improve as much as the other kids have when you've passed that development stage. Watching Smith now and hearing people talk about how much better he's become is pretty inspirational.
 
wpdavid

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
Tony Greig. He stood head & shoulders above the rest of the England side when I started watching the game, in more than one way of course.

The other guy I really liked was Dennis Amiss, who scored truckloads of runs for the test side before the selectors decided that not being able to handle Lillee & Thomson in 1974/75 was somehow a dropping offence. Then he came back and made a double against WI.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top